| Original Score: 3/4 | Nov 24, 2011

So much more than a football movie.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 24, 2010

Few films have shown so powerfully the slashing double edge of sports fever.

| Nov 1, 2007

A heart-pounding big-screen treatment that captures all the action of a tumultuous season while showing the emotional toll on the players.

| Mar 26, 2007

The affecting, gruelling result is less a document of recreational sport than one of obligation and ordeal.

| Jun 24, 2006

The best sports movie for years, as it's not about sport at all. Forget fears of jingoistic grandstanding, this is an un-American all-American tale that deserves attention.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Apr 1, 2006

An excellent effort that packs a solid, emotional punch.

| Jan 17, 2006

Its script is pure corn, drenched in syrupy sentiment and topped with prize ham in the shape of Billy Bob Thornton's tub-thumping coach.

| Original Score: 2/5 | May 10, 2005

Nuance typifies both Mr. Thornton's highly calibrated performance and the film's absence of unnecessary underlining.

| Nov 11, 2004

It has an intentionally rough, gritty, bleached, documentary feel but Berg is in complete control, with every shot a small gem of precision and mastery.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Oct 19, 2004

Viewers will be able to read into the do-or-die philosophy whatever they choose, and in the meantime simply enjoy this big-screen ode to the madness.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 19, 2004

Substitutes slick, cynical point-scoring for insight.

| Oct 19, 2004

Friday Night Lights is the real deal, a grim, in-your-face expose of one West Texas school's fanatical sports program.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 12, 2004

The story gestures at a cross-sectional view of America on a Nashville scale.

| Oct 12, 2004

A poignant celebration and a chilly condemnation of the high school gridiron as God's country.

| Oct 8, 2004

There's an interesting movie struggling to get out of Friday Night Lights, but every time it tries it gets rushed and tackled.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Oct 8, 2004

This film deserves a stronger, unifying theme.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Oct 8, 2004

People who like sports movies will love Friday Night Lights, but so will people who don't like sports movies and would never think of seeing a high school football game.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 8, 2004

Electric, witty, sad and wise.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Oct 8, 2004

The film delivers what sports fans really want.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Oct 8, 2004